PULLMAN, Wash. — Pac-10 member Washington State pounded out 16 hits Friday night at Bailey-Brayton Stadium to claim a 14-3 win over the CSUB baseball team in the series opener.
The Cougars improved to 13-5 on the season while the Roadrunners fell to 9-10 overall.
Washington State's Garry Kuykendall opened the bottom of the first by reaching on a hit by pitch and later scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Derek Jones. The Cougars rallied with two outs, tallying three hits and a walk to push three more runs across the plate for an early 4-0 lead.
Jason Kudlock led off the third with a triple off the center field wall. After a ground out by Derek Geisinger, Joey Mills reached on a walk and Brandon Boren sent Kudlock home with a fielder's choice to third. But the rally was cut short when Kyle Richardson hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Roadrunner starter Brandon Van Dam (0-2) settled down a bit in the second and third, allowing just one run to score in each inning, but Washington State added two more in the fourth, forcing the CSUB starter to the bench.
Jonathan Montoya entered in relief, but was unable to stop the Cougars' offense, giving up three walks and five hits for six runs, three of which were earned, in 1.2 innings. The Roadrunner defense did little to help their struggling pitching, committing three errors in the opening five innings.
CSUB's Zach Arneson made his first appearance of the season, striking out one and giving up one hit in 1.1 innings. Freshman Juan Padilla also had a solid relief appearance, striking out the side in the seventh and two more in the eighth before recording a foul fly out to end the inning.
The Roadrunners tallied a pair of unearned runs in the ninth on a double to right by Eric Sanchez, but closer Rusty Shellhorn got Martin Medina to ground out to short to end the game.
Chad Arnold (3-1) went six complete innings for WSU, striking out three and allowing just two hits for one run. Shellhorn finished things off for the Cougars, striking out four and scattering five hits for his first save of the year.
Boren led CSUB with two hits, while Jeremy Rodriguez, Kudlock, Sanchez and Garrett Branske had one each.
The Cougars got three hits each from Brett Jacobs and Matt Argyropoulous and two from Kuykendall. Eleven total Washington State players recorded a hit in the game.
Bakersfield and Washington State continue their four-game series Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
Score by Innings R H E
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CSU Bakersfield..... 001 000 002 - 3 7 4
Washington State.... 411 260 00X - 14 16 3
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Win - Arnold, C (3-1). Loss - Van Dam (0-2). Save - Shellhorn, R (1).
E - Boren 2(4); Mills(2); Van Dam(1); Steiger, B(1); Dykes, JK(1); Richards,
T(2). DP - Roadrunners 1; Cougars 3. LOB - Roadrunners 9; Cougars 11. 2B -
Sanchez(1); Branske(2); Jacobs, B(5); Jones, D(4); Claussen, P(2); Weber,
M(6); Fanelli, M(7). 3B - Kudlock(1); Argyropoulos(1). HBP - Kuykendall;
Weber, M; Peterson, R. SF - Jones, D(2); Peterson, R(1). SB - Kuykendall
2(6); Jacobs, B(2). CS - McIntyre(3); Jacobs, B(1).
